


For Your Smile

by Animercom



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Bullying, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Graphic Violence, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26309044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animercom/pseuds/Animercom
Summary: Bored and apathetic to the world, Kokichi makes decisions based on dice rolls for some excitement in his life. But soon a bright and energetic Himiko transfers into his middle school class and Kokichi's world magically begins to change.
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Yumeno Himiko
Comments: 10
Kudos: 74





	For Your Smile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheMusingOwl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMusingOwl/gifts).



> This is written as a birthday fic to my friend, MusingOwl! Thank you for being such a great friend. This fic is related to chapter 4 of my fic We're Just Here, in which I explore a different take on Pregame Kokichi who makes decisions based on dice rolls. But it's not necessary to have read that first before this fic. Enjoy!

“There’s a new transfer student, class.”

Kokichi looked up from the dice he was playing with. He sat in the back corner of a middle school classroom. Mr. Matsumoto, their middle-aged teacher, scratched his balding head. Pushed his black half-framed glasses. “She’s new to the area too so I’m asking you to go easy on her. Give her a nice, quiet welcome; no funny business. Come on in.”

A short, red-headed girl opened the door. She paused in the doorway, taking in the classroom. Bare half bookshelves. Dust caking the cubbies in the back. Cracked tile. Faded, curled posters with sayings like “Be the change you want to see in the world!” She gulped. Smiled wide before striding inside.

The girl stood next to the teacher and bowed. “Hello, everyone. I’m Himiko Yumeno. It’s nice to meet you all!”

She wore a black button-up uniform like everyone else, but a mage hat sat atop her head. Kokichi narrowed his eyes. _What’s with her? Is she some nutcase?_ She stuck out like a vegetarian at the butchers.

“I like magic, reading and watching romance dramas, and going to the park.”

Mr. Matsumoto nodded. “Okay, that’s good–”

“My mommy had to move here because of her job. Well, her new job. My dad kinda left us for another… But it’s okay. Me and Mom will make do. No, more than make do! I know I’ll have a fun time here and…” Himiko trailed off as she took in everyone. A classroom of blank, monotone faces stared back at her. Most students had dirt streaked cheeks. Ripped and faded uniforms. One student stuck a piece of gum to the underside of her desk. Near the back a brawny boy threw a spitball at the girl ahead of him. Another student stabbed his lead mechanical pencil into his desk. Himiko jumped. Chuckling, he grinned, showing he was missing a couple of teeth.

Himiko flashed a smile and bowed again. “A-anyway, I hope we all get along well!”

Scoffing, Kokichi looked out the window next to him. He rolled the dice around in his palm with a thumb. _She’s going to lose that smile sooner or later. Guys like Jiren spitballing over there will bully her to establish their hierarchy. And then she’s gonna be just another face here. I’ve seen it a million times already._

“Okay, class. Himiko will need someone to help her get acquainted with school. Give her a tour or something. How about you, Kokichi?”

Kokichi scowled. Under his desk, he rolled the dice. _Evens I help her out, odds and I don’t._

A five and a two – odds.

“M-me, sir?” Kokichi pulled down his bangs, hiding his face. “I’m no good. No good at all. R-really. Someone, anyone, would be better than me.” Tears welled in his eyes. “Please don’t pick me…”

Himiko frowned. The teacher sighed. “Very well. Himura, you do it.”

Himura kicked Kokichi’s seat. “Yeah, whatever.”

Mr. Matsumoto directed Himiko to the empty seat next to Kokichi. Exhaling, Kokichi returned to gazing out the window. _Ahhh, I’m so bored. Everything’s always, always the same. School, homework, video games, and then school again. The cycle never ends._ Kokichi set his head on his crossed arms. Gazed at his dice. _At least I have these to keep things interesting._

* * *

Mr. Matsumoto drew a triangle on the chalkboard. He droned, “In this triangle, the measure of angle C is x plus 30 degrees. That would make the measure of angle A be…”

 _…make the angle be I don’t care_ , thought Kokichi. Elbow on his desk, Kokichi held up his chin with a fist. He dragged his pencil back and forth, scratching out the problem. _I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care._

Movement caught Kokichi’s eye. Himiko had set her math textbook standing up, shielding her desk from the teacher. She placed four dice in the corners of her desk, then laid a card against each of the dice.

Kokichi raised a brow. _What is she doing?_

Himiko smacked down her hand atop a card and die. Lifted her hand. The card lay flat against the table; the die had vanished. Kokichi gasped. Himiko smacked her hand down on the three remaining cards and dice piles. All of the dice disappeared. She grinned. Mouth agape, Kokichi stared. _How could she make dice disappear like that?_

Himiko glanced up, spying Kokichi. She wrote something in her notebook, tore it off, and held it up. A note that read “Hi there!” Smiling, she waved emphatically.

Kokichi flinched. Biting his lip, he pulled his bangs down and looked away. 

Chuckling, Himiko returned to her trick. Kokichi resumed scribbling out his notes. But every little while he glanced up to watch her perform.

* * *

The bell rang. Groaning, students rose from their seats. As he passed, Jiren swiped a student’s books to the floor. Laughing, five other students followed Jiren out the door. Kokichi doodled in his notebook, waiting. He always stayed in the classroom a good fifteen minutes after the last bell to ensure Jiren and his goons were clear of the shoe lockers at the school entrance.

Kokichi yawned. He drew Vegeta from DBZ shooting a laser beam into someone, killing them. _When I get home, I have homework and I don’t know… Maybe reread some manga–_

“Hi!”

Kokichi jerked. _Who would talk to me?_

Hands behind her back, Himiko smiled down at him. She rose onto her toes before plopping back to the ground. “Kokichi, right? I’m Himiko. Nice to meet you.”

Kokichi shrunk back in his desk chair. Avoiding eye contact, he stared down at his desk. “O-oh, uh, hi.” _Why are you talking to me? Go away._

Fists raised by her chest, Himiko leaned in. Her eyes sparkled. “Do you like magic? I saw you watching me earlier. I love magic. It’s exciting. You never know what’s going to happen next! Do you know any spells? Any of the great mages–”

“No.” Kokichi stood up and slung on his backpack, forcing Himiko to step back. _Magic isn’t real. There’s only chance and probability._

“Nyeh… Ah, well, here! I want you to have this.” She handed him a handmade flyer. Had a poorly done drawing of herself in wizard robes. It read, “Himiko the Amazing’s Magic Show! Tomorrow after school.”

Frowning, Kokichi glanced up at her. _You can’t be serious, are you?_

“Please come to my magic show tomorrow! I think it’ll be a nice way to meet everyone. Make everyone smile! I can see people here really need some smile magic.” Hands on her hips, Himiko nodded to herself.

 _Should I warn her? Odds I do and evens I don’t._ The dice read as a one and a three – an even number. Kokichi shrugged. _Okay then._

“Anyway, I hafta go home and prepare. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Waving, Himiko left the room.

On his way out of school, Kokichi balled up the poster and threw it out.

* * *

Backpack over a shoulder, Kokichi entered the school foyer. Dim sunlight shone through the dingy glass doors of the entrance. The bulletin boards on the wall only had outdated events. Rows of square shoe lockers allowed students to switch out their outdoor shoes for indoor ones. But no one was there.

 _Good. Waiting extra long today to leave was worth it._ Kokichi approached his grimy, sticky shoe locker. Opened it.

The school door opened.

Himiko stood in the doorway, her clothes soaked and collar askew. Mage hat and shoes missing. In her hands she held a magic wand that was snapped in half. Head down, Himiko trudged to her shoe locker. No shoes – someone took them. “Nyeh…” She turned. Saw Kokichi watching her. “Oh, Kokichi. Hi.” She smiled. “Take care on your way home, okay?”

Turning around, she trudged out of the building. Started the long walk home in her wet stockings.

“What?” Lips parted, Kokichi gazed at the doors even after she left. “How…?” _How is she still smiling after that? Maybe she really is different. But if she doesn’t stand up for herself, I know this will only keep happening._

Memories of elementary school flashed through Kokichi’s mind. Classmates smacking his lunch out of his hands onto the ground. Them filling his shoe locker with garbage. Teachers giving him detention because his classmates ripped up Kokichi’s homework. How they didn’t stop until Kokichi struck back.

_Evens and I get back at who did this to her. Odds and I don’t._

A three and a four. Odd.

Kokichi frowned. Jaw set, he stuffed the dice deep in his pocket and walked out of the door.

* * *

Kokichi leaned against the back wall of the school foyer, waiting for it to clear out of students. He drank a can of Panta. No one had approached or messed with Kokichi’s shoe locker under his watch. His eyes flickered up to Himiko’s nearby shoe locker. _No one has touched Himiko’s locker either. Not that I’m keeping watch._ Kokichi frowned. _But Himiko’s been pretty quiet this past week. Still does magic during class but she keeps her head down. Doesn’t call attention to herself._ After exhaling, Kokichi sipped his Panta. _I thought she was going to be different. Guess not._ Kokichi crushed the can. Tossed it in the garbage. _How boring._

Kokichi stepped outside, shielding his eyes from the sun. Laughing, a couple of second year middle schoolers ran past, jostling Kokichi. They froze. “S-sorry, third year! We’ll watch where we’re going next time.”

Kokichi spied a poster one of the boys was holding. “What’s that?” He snatched it from their hands. Looked at it. Kokichi went cold.

“Oh, the flyer? Some girl with red hair was hanging up these flyers in the elementary school hallways. Something about a magic show behind the school building after class today? We were thinking about going.”

Kokichi balled the paper in his fist. “That idiot…!” He burst through the school doors. Rounded the building. Panting, he stopped just before turning the corner. He peered over the edge.

A rusty shed stood to the left. To the right a bare sakura tree. A dumpster and a garden of weeds sat against the school wall. Forest of trees stretched out behind the school. By the shed Jiren and his goons surrounded Himiko. Elementary kids sat on the grass before them, wide-eyed and holding each other.

Jiren with his physique of a future football player strolled up to Himiko. He scoffed. “Why are you wasting your time on stupid tricks like this? You got a screw loose, shrimp?” He pounded his fist into a palm. Grinned. “Or do you just like getting a beating?”

Sweat slid down Kokichi’s brow. _Evens and I step in and odds I don’t._

A six and a one. Odd.

Jiren knocked over Himiko’s table with her props. The other classmates crowded in on Himiko. Jiren pushed her into the shed’s wall. Himiko winced. Holding her shoulder, she stared them down. “I-I’ll show you what my magic can do! You’ll see how much fun it is, if you just let me–”

Jiren gripped Himiko’s jaw. He sneered in her face. “I thought breaking your toys and shoving you into that pond would have gotten the message through to you. Anyone who sticks their head out gets it cut off. Right, guys?” The others laughed like hyenas.

Himiko paled. The elementary kids whimpered. A girl started crying.

Heart pounding, Kokichi rolled the dice again. _Best out of three!_ Evens and then another odds. _Damn it. Best of out of five!_ Two more rolls of odds. Biting his lip, Kokichi glanced up.

“You know what they do with witches? They burn them! Ahahaha!”

“I got a lighter! Here!”

Lighter in hand, Jiren seized Himiko’s upper arm. “Oh, this’ll be fun. What should we burn first, boys? Her hair, her uniform? How about her nose?”

Himiko screamed.

Kokichi dropped the dice. They landed in mud. Bolted towards them.

Jiren turned around. “What’s going – the hell?”

Kokichi launched himself over the crowd of kids. The wind blew his hair, his uniform. Eyes flashed.

Kokichi landed and roundhouse kicked a student in the head. He sank like a stone. Half turning back to the kids, Kokichi threw out a hand. “Run!”

Squealing, the younger kids fled.

A lanky kid hurled a punch. “I won’t let you–!”

Kokichi ducked. Uppercut his chin. The student stumbled back. Another reached for Kokichi’s collar. Kokichi pulled on the student’s outstretched arm and kneed him in the stomach. Coughing, he fell to the ground. Trembling, the last two students hung back, about to run.

“D-don’t get any closer!” Jiren cried. He grabbed Himiko. Held the lighter by her face. “I’ll burn her!”

Kokichi kicked him between the legs. Howling, Jiren released Himiko to hold himself. Growling, Kokichi tackled Jiren to the ground. Kokichi seized Jiren’s wrist and wrenched it back until he dropped the lighter. Kokichi hissed, “Don’t you ever touch her again. If you do…” Kokichi’s grin unnaturally stretched across his face. He held Jiren’s fingers by his open mouth, as if about to bite them. “I’ll rip off all your fingers and force feed them to you. Understood?”

“Ah… ahhhhh!!!” Jiren and the other students ran off screaming.

Wide-eyed, Himiko pressed herself against the shed wall. She panted heavily. With shaky legs, Himiko pulled herself up into standing. “T-thanks, Kokichi.” Swallowing, Himiko swiped at her sweaty bangs. “Uh, you’re not some dark archmage, are you? You really weren’t going to make them eat their…”

Kokichi shrugged. “I could put it in a broth. Have them drink it.” Himiko shrank back. Kokichi exhaled a laugh. “Kidding, kidding. I’m lying. I’m a liar after all.” _Wait, why did I just say that?! I shouldn’t be opening up to her!_

Frowning, Himiko regarded Kokichi. “You’re actually a bit scary. Not at all like that shy, crybaby you act like. So why would you help me? I thought you didn’t care about anything.”

Kokichi shrugged. “I’ve been pushed around by guys bigger than me before. And well… your magic wasn’t too boring.”

Himiko smiled. Her cheeks and button nose tickled pink.

Kokichi felt his face mirroring her smile. A warmth filled his chest. _And I wanted to see that smile again._ “But!” Eyes narrowed, Kokichi thrust a finger. “That was a reaaally stupid stunt there! You knew exactly what would happen.”

“I…” Sighing, Himiko turned away and tucked a strand of hair behind an ear. The wind rustled the bare tree’s branches. In the distance cars honked and reeved. Kokichi breathed in the smell of grass and the dumpster’s trash. Himiko hung her head. “Yeah, you’re right, I did know what would happen. Back when I was first getting into magic in elementary school I was bullied pretty badly. They said I was crazy for thinking magic was real. So I stayed quiet during my first two years of middle school. But it was so lonely…”

Leaning in, Himiko pressed a hand to her chest. “So when I transferred to this school, I wanted to be myself and help people. Make them smile! But everyone was so cold.” Himiko pulled down her mage hat. “I don’t get it. Why do people bully others…?”

Kokichi gazed at the direction Jiren left. “Maybe because they never had someone like you who wanted to see their smile.”

“Nii hee. Maybe. But the person I wanted to see smile the most was you.”

Kokichi stiffened. “Wh-what?”

Blushing, Himiko pressed the tips of her index fingers together. “You being alone all the time reminded me of myself. I was worried about you.”

Lips parted, Kokichi stared. His eyes stung. _No one’s ever… no one’s ever cared about me before._ Kokichi hung his head. Bangs casted his eyes in shadow. _I don’t have my dice here to make a decision but…_ “If you hold another magic show I’ll come. J-just to make sure Jiren doesn’t come back and ruin it! Or hurt you…”

“Oh really?” Laughing, Himiko squeezed Kokichi’s hand with both of hers. Her face flushed pink. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes. “Oh Kokichi! Thank you!”

Kokichi’s face reddened to his hair roots. His heart galloped a mile a minute. “A-ah…!” _A… a girl is holding my hand…!_

“I’ll be sure to host a show real soon! This Friday. No, tomorrow!”

_Let. Let go of my hand. Let go of my hand!_

“I’ll do all of my best spells and leave you blown away! Oh, I’m so excited. And maybe after the show I can show you a bit of how the spells work? That sounds great. I’m so excited. We’re going to have so much fun…”

* * *

At the front of the classroom Mr. Matsumoto clapped his hands. “All right. Time for lunch. If you leave the room, be back in time or I’ll start without you.”

Kokichi pushed out his seat, about to get his bento from his cubby in the back. He sighed. _Time to eat outside just like every other day–_

“Hi, Kokichi!” Himiko dragged her chair to the other side of Kokichi’s desk. “Want to eat together? Oh and…” She began setting up dice hidden behind a card in the four corners. “I can show you how to make dice disappear. Do you want me to show you?”

For a moment, Kokichi just gazed at her. He smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.”


End file.
